Turbocharge Your Hunt

One of our site’s visitors clued us in to an article by Adam Pash on the Lifehacker Web site that explains how to turbocharge your apartment search by using Craigslist’s RSS feed. Link here You can also get your Backpage.com search updated with an RSS feed.

In a nutshell, here’s how it works:• Fill in your search criteria on Craigslist or Backpage• Hit Enter• Go to the bottom of the page and copy the link from the RSS text at the bottom of the page • Paste the link into your RSS feed reader

Now you are ready to track your Craigslist or Backpage categories as new listings come in, and, if you are using Bloglines, even check your feeds with your Blackberry/Treo/Q, etc., and get a jump on the competition for that perfect pad.

But don’t forget to check out your local papers’ Web sites—or even their print editions! And don’t give up on the lower tech search tools, either – ask around in your office, at family gatherings, at alumni meetings and at your local hangouts, plus check out the bulletin boards at your target area’s supermarkets. Finally, consider posting your own ad on Craigslist or Backpage, describing what you are looking for. You’ll never know where you’ll get the lead to your dream apartment.